How to tell if your family is white trash

My sister came over to visit today, baby in tow. She's 17, unemployed, and hasn't been in school for about three years. She's a very capable learner, and I think she could do anything she put her mind to doing—but she'd rather just sit around the house all day, getting smashed with her boyfriend. No, the boyfriend's not the same guy as her baby's father.

So anyway, she's living with our dear mother right now even though neither of them particularly like that situation. Mum's been trying to get her to move out since she got pregnant at 15, but it's difficult to convince a would-be landlord to let you take on a lease when you're a single mother young enough to still be in school and yet have no reliable source of income.

"That's why I want a Housing New Zealand house: so I can do what I want with it," she told me today when we were talking about décor. Sure, most people would say "That's why I want to own my own home..." but when there's a government-sponsored rental program, why not?